The firm’s imminent collapse comes after both Toys R Us and Maplin fell into administration earlier this year.

Poundworld will continue to trade while a buyer for all or part of the business is sought, Deloitte said, adding that there were no redundancies or store closures at this time.

Clare Boardman, joint administrator at Deloitte, said: “The retail trading environment in the UK remains extremely challenging and Poundworld has been seeking to address this through a restructure of its business. Unfortunately, this has not been possible.

“We still believe a buyer can be found for the business or at least part of it and we are keeping staff appraised of developments as they happen. We thank all employees for their support at this difficult time.”

It is understood TPG and Poundworld’s management rejected offers to buy the business out of a pre-pack administration and were hoping to sell it as a solvent business.

Other parties named as possible buyers were turnaround specialist Alteri Investors and Poundworld’s founder Chris Edwards.

But a deal could not be struck.

A TPG spokesman said: “This was a difficult decision for every party involved.